Baseball: UNC Review

While North Carolina isn't quite the Goliath they have been in the past, Michigan did have to go into Chapel Hill and face the #12 team in the nation with what's been a suspect offense at best. It didn't turn out all that well. Michigan was swept on the weekend, losing two extremely close games on Friday and Saturday, and was blown out on Sunday to fall to 4-7 on the season.

Starting pitching on Saturday and Sunday just wasn't good enough to compete with the Tarheels, but there was some life shown by the offense.

Game 1

Box Score

R

H

E

Michigan

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

2

2

7

1

UNC

0

0

0

2

0

0

0

2

X

4

4

0

W-Harvey … L-Oaks (2-1)

Alan Oaks didn't deserve this loss, and the bullpen and the offense owe him better than that. Oaks threw 7 innings, giving up two runs on 3 hits, 6 walks, and 3 strikeouts. Oaks retired ten of his first eleven batters he faced before allowing a walk and a homerun back to back in the fourth. Oaks walked two in the fifth, plus gave another base on balls intentionally before getting out of the inning without giving up a run. He finished his night retiring 7 straight batters, with Michigan trailing just 2-0.

Then the bullpen came in, first with Travis Smith. Smith walked both batters he would face to open the 8th, and then would get the quick hook for Eric Katzman. He too would be on a short leash, as he walked one batter before being pulled. Kolby Wood entered with the infield pulled in for the play at the plate. The gamble on infield positioning failed, however, as the first batter Wood faced chopped a ball that bounced just over the head of Toth, plating two runs. No fault to Wood in this one, he did his job to get the ground ball, it was just unfortunate for Michigan who was playing to keep the game at two. Wood completed the inning with three more ground balls, including a great defensive play by Dufek to get a player at home.

The offense for Michigan actually wasn't that bad this game, they just waited too late to string together an inning. Several innings saw Michigan strand a runner on base, but the best scoring chance Michigan had came in the 4th. With one out and two runners on base, Berset flew out to right field. The UNC right fielder had a perfect throw to beat Dufek to the plate, and Michigan ended up with no runs.

Michigan did put the pressure on in the top of the ninth. Toth and Dufek led off with back-to-back singles, and after a pair of strikeouts by Crank and Lorenz, Berset singled in the first run. Urban would follow that with another single for a run. With the rookie Mills coming up, Garrett Stephens came in to pinch hit, but for naught. He would fly out to end the game.

Notable Stars

Alan Oaks… obviously. That was a tremendous start.

Mike Dufek – 2/4 R, K, great defensive play to get a runner at home

Notable Goats

Smith and Katzman – Combined 0 innings with 3 walks.

13 Ks – Dennis and Mills both went 0/3 with hat tricks

Game 2

Box Score

R

H

E

Michigan

0

0

0

1

0

0

2

1

2

6

12

2

UNC

0

1

3

2

0

0

0

0

X

7

12

1

W-Johnson … L-Miller (0-2) … Save-Holt

While this isn't quite a slugfest like I predicted in my weekend preview, 12 hits for Michigan probably should count as one. Matt Miller could just not settle down in this game, lasting just 3 innings (he started the 4th but didn't get an out) while giving up 10 hits, 6 runs (only 4 earned), 2 walks, and striking out four. It was a bad day, and run-scoring errors from Biondi and Anthony Toth. Bad starts happen, but the good news is the Michigan managed to stay in the game.

Matt Gerbe was able to keep UNC from tacking on too many runs in the 4th, giving up a two walks and the ground ball that Toth booted. Both runs scoring on that play were charged to Miller, the first unearned. Gerbe did pitch better in the 5th, retiring the side in order, and managed to navigate out of trouble in the 6th after hitting the leadoff batter. His official line looks a bit better than real life at 3IP, 1H, 0R with 2BB and a K, but he still had a solid outing to give Michigan time to wake themselves up on offense.

After Gerbe, Jeff DeCarlo and Kevin Vangheluwe both worked out of some trouble with minimal damage. DeCarlo threw a scoreless inning despite walking two and hitting a batter, which I consider to be a great inning for him. Normally it's a walk, a hit batsman, and at least 2 runs. Vangheluwe gave up a leadoff single, but after a stolen base and sacrifice bunt, Kevin balked in the 7th and game deciding run for UNC.

Michigan's offense was in full swing in this game, lead by Patrick Biondi's 4-for-4 day. Michigan had a hit in each inning, but would not get on the board until the 4th. Dufek and Berset both walked, and Urban knocked a single up the middle for the first run.

The 7th inning was when the Michigan offense really started to click. Dennis lead off the 7th with a double and scored when Patrick Biondi knocked a triple. Toth followed that up with a sac-fly. That cut the UNC lead to only 6-3.

In the 8th, Lorenz walked and Urban was hit by a pitch. Biondi would single through the left side of the infield to score Lorenz. The game was then 6-4.

In the 9th, down 7-4, Crank singled and Berset homered to deep left to pull the game to just a one run margin with only one out left in the inning. Lorenz would walk and be pinch run for with Tyler Mills. Urban singled and the tying run was in scoring position, winning run on first. Michigan had two chances to tie the game, but they'd come up short as Derek Dennis and pinch hitter Garrett Stephens would both strikeout swinging.

The radio announcer really put emphasis on the balk being the deciding issue in this game. I don't think so. The run would have scored on the next ground ball. Still, we had the UNC fans on the edge of their seats, especially when the umpire decided not to ring up Urban on a pitch 6 inches outside, that the umpire had been calling all day.

Notable Stars

Patrick Biondi – 4/4 3B, 2 RBI, R, BB

Chris Berset - 1/4 HR, 2 RBI, R, BB

Crank, Dennis, Urban – 2 hits a piece

Notable Goats

Matt Miller – Tough start. Never could settle.

Biondi and Toth – Errors leading to runs will always land you here.

Game 3

Box Score

R

H

E

Michigan

1

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

1

8

0

UNC

2

0

0

2

0

5

0

0

X

9

14

1

W – Bates … L-Burgoon (2-1)

So while my predictions came close to true in game one and two, game three went nothing like the win I had expected. Burgoon was in no way his normal self. He gave up two runs in the first on two hits and a walk, while also uncorking a wild pitch. One of those two hits was a triple down the right field line. It definitely didn't set a good tone for the game.

Tyler did manage to settle down over the next two innings, allowing just one runner on base via a hit batsman. In the fourth, Burgoon gave back-to-back singles and a RBI double. A sac-fly would score another run. The sixth inning was the big inning for UNC. Burgoon gave off a leadoff homer and a double before leaving the game.

Sinnery would enter, but he wasn't very successful either. He gave up a double, a single, a walk, another double, and another single, to give UNC five runs on the inning. Luckily Chris Berset nailed a runner trying to steal second to end the inning. Sinnery wouldn't make it through his next inning. Brosnahan would eventually retire the last batter of the inning.

Wood threw the last inning for Michigan as the last of the subs made it in for mop up duty. He gave up a single and struck out two in the scoreless frame.

On offense, Michigan had a couple hitters have a good day, but outside of the first inning, it was just sporadically peppered throughout the game. The one run came on the third batter of the game. Biondi walked, and Toth and Berset each singled, with Biondi scoring on the latter's.

Notable Stars

Chris Berset – 2/2 RBI, 2 HBP

Toth and Lorenz – 2 hits a piece. Berset with the RBI

Notable Goats

Coley Crank – 0/4 with 3 LOB (batting fourth)

Team – 1/11 with RISP

Series Thoughts

While a sweep is never desired, I don't think losing all three will kill us in the national picture, it certainly doesn't help our cause. North Carolina isn't quite up to their normal level of dominance, and I think with LaMarre, we definitely had at least one win from the series. We didn't have him though, so it's time to just move ahead.

The Lineup

There was a lot of shifting in the lineup this weekend. A quick look:

Friday

Saturday

Sunday

Biondi

8

Biondi

8

Biondi

8

Toth

4

Toth

4

Toth

4

Dufek

3

Dufek

3

Berset

2

Crank

D

Crank

D

Crank

D

Lorenz

5

Berset

2

Dufek

3

Berset

2

Lorenz

5

Lorenz

5

Urban

9

Urban

9

Urban

9

Mills

7

Dennis

6

Mills

7

Dennis

6

Kittle

7

Dennis

6

Berset has been doing quite well this season, and he's earned his move up the lineup. Lorenz has also done really well, and he may overtake Dufek if things don't improve for Mike soon. We'll see how that goes. I don't think things are set just yet, and I'm planning on looking in more detail at some of the less refined stats in a later segment.

It's still any one's game in left field. Mills, Kittle, Krantz, Stephens, and Crank have each had a crack at it, but none of the new guys has produced enough at the plate. I don't have enough on Kittle yet, but any of the other three are alright replacements. No one has been tested just yet on defense, and only Stephens poses any sort of major power threat.

Moving Forward

I think this was a good series to show that Michigan isn't quite as inept as it was last season. Michigan can hang with some of the big boys when they're on, and that bode wells for the Big Ten season. If there was one disappointment with the weekend, it was the lack of Sinnery and his short struggle. I think the starting pitching woes should be better the next time around, and we've got a good week to prepare for a bit easier schedule next weekend.

Around the Big Ten

Not a lot to good to say about the Big Ten this week. Leader Ohio State brought in a bunch of tomato cans to play in a tournament they hosted in Florida. They still managed to lose to Saint Louis.

Minnesota obliterated any mention of them in the national picture on Friday. After losing to Wisconsin-Milwaukee in the mid-week, the Gophers lost to Loyola Marymount 4-3. Saturday, they were blown out by Oklahoma State, a middle of the road Big12 team by a score of 16-9. All of these were at their home park, the Metrodome. They did manage a win against Northwestern today in a non-conference game, but that's nothing impressive. Huge hit to them on the season.

Speaking of Northwestern though, they did manage to beat Loyola Marymount, and kept it respectable in the weekend opening loss to Okahoma State at just 7-5.

Indiana had a great weekend, taking two games, one from Illinois State and another from a pretty good Kent State team. They're currently in extra innings with Vanderbilt as I type this. That's pretty good regardless of how the game ends. If they take it, it's a huge win.

Iowa had an impressive win against #25 Kansas. It's the Big Ten's lone win over a ranked opponent, and it didn't even come in a Jared Hippen start. The Hawkeyes went 1-3 in Lawrence against the Jay Hawks. That's actually great for a program as low as Iowa's. I still maintain that they are a dark horse to finish in the top 3 of the conference this season.

Michigan State split their weekend, beating Southeast Missouri twice and losing twice to Mississippi State in Starkville. Nothing to write home about with any of those results.

Penn State picked up a solid win over Dallas Baptist, and another decent win over McNeese State in Beaumont, Texas. They did lose their final two games against the host Lamar Cardinals. Those aren't horrible losses for the Nittany Lions. Lamar does hold a win over Rice this season.

Outside of Minnesota, the worst showing in the conference was Purdue who lost two of three at Southern Illinois. They might have won Friday 13-2, but they lost 13-12 each of the next two games.

But even that was rivaled by the Illini, who were swept in their tournament at East Carolina. Illinois lost to East Carolina 7-5, Western Carolina 4-2, and West Virginia 11-8. They blew a 5 run lead in that last game.

I was at the game Sunday and had a great time despite the loss. Boshamer is an awesome stadium. We sat in the first two rows behind the Michigan dugout. What made the day special was catching a foul ball in my hat. The kids got a kick out of it and we ended up getting the baseball signed by Berset. And the kids got to run the bases after the game. All in all a great day..........you know, except for that losing thing.

If you are close to UNC you should try to get to a game to see the stadium.

I sat a section over from the amazing ball-in-hat catch. It got a nice ovation from the crowd. Overall, I thought the stadium was beautiful. Kind of an ugly loss on Sunday, but the team showed some skills laying down bunts. Need to get some PFP tho.

Also, Brian Goodwin has arguably the best walk-up song in college baseball. If you know what that song is called, please let me know.

I have one more goat to add: Derrek Dennis. Yes he’s a freshman, but he muffed two throw downs to second from the plate, and thus allowed two bases stolen. Also, Coley Crank lost the handle on the ball once which cost us in the confusion. That said, our relief pitching was better than UNCs, and our defense picked up toward the end.

This game was tough, the two errors got us down a lot, and it was looking like an ugly loss. But our guys fought back. So hard the UNC had to slow the momentums on several occasions. This game was down to the last pitch.

Home field advantage, and gamesmanship:

So at the top of the 7th, the shadows crept across the field and were making it difficult for our batters to see the pitch right as we were gaining traction on UNCs relief crew. Notably, the lights came on between the top and the bottom of the 7th …

Also, (it may have been the same inning) UNC’s first baseman was hit by a ball thrown to him (maybe on the wrist). Our runner was only allowed to proceed to second. The first baseman was writhing on the ground, and we in the stands thought it was pretty serious. The UNC staff took an absurdly long time to react, strolling out there. So much so that one of our fans commented on it, earning a rebuke from the UNC coach. I’m not saying the player wasn’t hurt, but the lack of action clearly slowed the game down when we had momentum, and the player stood back up and continued to play.

Fans, and meeting Rich Maloney:

Before the game Rich Maloney came up and said hi to the fans. He seems like a very nice guy. He had the whole team sign a ball for my son (my son thinks that’s pretty cool). I told him to tell the other Rich, John, and Red that we all out here are puling for them, and hope the teams get back on track soon.

They announced there were about 1400 spectators there. I’d say somewhere between 5 and 10% were in maize and blue. We were in several blocks down the 1st baseline, and when good things happened we made a solid amount of noise.

We had one heckler in our midst. He was seated with M fans, but had a W hat on. He was vocally critical of mistakes in a sarcastic, all knowing way. We were joking we’d get an NCAA coaching limit allegation if this guy kept going on. Where I was seated we cringed every time he spoke up – wishing it was socially acceptable to bind and gag someone.

All in all it was a beautiful day, and we were treated to a nail biter. Would have been nice if we came out on top, but our guys fought to the end.

Hey man, check your email and tell me what you think of the blog that I set up, opinions are needed and welcomed, positive and not-so-positive.

And I grew up in NC and always cheered for UNC whenever they played baseball on TV. I really wish the Tigers never traded Andrew Miller, he's gonna be a heck of a pitcher someday. He was a stud when he played in college for the Tar Heels.